1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer software and, more particularly, to computer software that manages relationships.
2. Description of the Related Art
A complex web of relationships interconnects individuals in society. Understanding these relationships can allow individuals to establish new relationships with other individuals by establishing initial contact through pre-existing contacts. Further, individuals can utilize their understanding of present relationships to selectively nurture existing relationships. Properly managing interpersonal relationships can produce significant professional and personal rewards. The relationship management activities preformed by individuals can be referred to as establishing/managing a personal contact network or simply as networking.
Just as individuals can benefit from relationship management, so can organizations. For example, organizations often include teams or committees responsible for performing one or more tasks. Well-formed teams that include a proper mix of necessary skills and personalities often produce favorable results in an efficient fashion. Poorly formed teams, on the other hand, can sometimes lack the requisite skills to complete necessary tasks for the organization. Additionally, personality idiosyncrasies within poorly formed teams can spawn arguments and dissention within a team, resulting in inefficient team performance. Further, various subdivisions of an organization can have different, non-complementary division-specific agendas that can result in teams comprised of individuals from diverse divisions working at cross-purposes with one another. Generally, when extensive relationships exist between individuals, those individuals are better able to understand one another and function effectively as a team compared to teams formed from individuals not having pre-established relationships.
Numerous conventional software applications record and track aspects of interpersonal relationships. Such applications include, but are not limited to, organizational information management systems, project management applications, contact directories, genealogy applications, and personal information management systems. Organizational information management systems can include a variety of organizational relationship features, such as a feature to construct organization charts. Project management applications can record data about individuals assigned as teammates to discrete projects, the roles of the individuals within the projects, project outcomes, and the like. Genealogy programs can manage the lineages and family-relations existing between people. Personal information management systems can record and manage personal contact information for individuals, such as telephone numbers, addresses, and important dates associated with a contact.
The above applications generally operate in a manner that is primarily independent of other systems containing relationship information. For example, although a contact management system can be linked to an organizational information management system to construct telephone directories for an organization, complex relationship operations, such as determining the most meaningful relationship pathway existing between two individuals, cannot be determined by conventional applications. No known relationship management applications exist that effectively manage different types of relationships, such as organizational, project-specific, and social relationships, in a holistic fashion.